... so i was in scotland ten years ago, sitting in the teviot row house, and the band played this song, the chorus of which i havent been able to get out of my head since ... and now i find theres a whole plethora of lovely folks who enjoy this type of music and might just know the rest of the song! anyway, as best i can tell, the chorus goes like this:

shes the earl of march's daughter, the fairest of them all and the humble squire, tashie law? has taen her heart awa'

... the song fascinated me because it has the traditional poor rover type hooks up with noble young woman theme, but with a bizarre twist at the end where he rides back from war to find her wasted away to the point he doesnt recognize her and doesnt believe she is his love ...

... a hearty thanks to both of you and particularly to scott - a great way to come back from holidays to find not only the words but the name of the band as well ... im off now to hunt down black eyed biddy recordings ...

3 albums exist, to my knowledge; one being on one of those black plastic things only. Earliest (the vinyl one) is 'Guid Neighbours', from when there were still 3 members of the band. This is the one with Earl of March's Daughter on it. Can't remember the name of the second album, but the third is 'Peace Enjoyment Love and Pleasure'.

Where are you Sean? Probably hard to get any of them outside of the UK. If you have problems getting them PM me your postal address and I'll try to get them direct from the band for you.

scott! sorry im not as prompt as you, but i dont get to a computer very often ... an outfit called elderly instuments can get me the second two albums, and, joy of joys, i found a cassette copy of guid neibours here in ann arbor, mich, for only five dollars! its great stuff, transcending even my nostalgia, and my bros and i will be playing yellows on the broom and dixie darlin in a pub in grand rapids mich as part of our st paddys day gig ... thnaks in no small part to you! so anyway, thanks for the info ... sean

The Earl O March's Daughter Jean Douglas was the youngest daughter of William Douglas, Earl of March (1724-1810). Forbidden to marry the son of the laird of Tushielaw, who was considered below her station, she pined while her lover was exiled. When Tushielaw returned, Jean was so ill that he didn't recognise her, and she died broken hearted. Jean haunts Neidpath Castle and appears clad in a full-length brown dress with a large white collar. Sir Walter Scott also wrote a poem about her, although in my opinion, it's nowhere near as good as Lionel's song.

The Maid of Neidpath by Sir Walter Scott

O lovers' eyes are sharp to see, And lovers' ears in hearing; And love, in life's extremity, Can lend an hour of cheering. Disease had been in Mary's bower, And slow decay from mourning, Though now she sits on Neidpath's tower, To watch her love's returning.

All sunk and dim her eyes so bright, Her form decay'd by pining, Till through her wasted hand, at night, You saw the taper shining; By fits, a sultry hectic hue Across her cheek was flying;

By fits, so ashy pale she grew, Her maidens thought her dying. Yet keenest powers to see and hear Seem'd in her frame residing; Before the watch-dog pricked his ear She heard her lover's riding; Ere scarce a distant form was ken'd, She knew, and waved to greet him; And o'er the battlement did bend, As on the wing to meet him.

He came—he pass'd—an heedless gaze, As o'er some stranger glancing; Her welcome, spoke in faltering phrase, Lost in his courser's prancing. The castle arch, whose hollow tone Returns each whisper spoken, Could scarcely catch the feeble moan Which told her heart was broken

For those interested, Lionel McClelland"s Earl of March's Daughter is on the new posthumous CD released by some of his friends and compiled from music that he was working on at the time of his death from a heart attack in 2010. The title of the album is To Wyle Us Hame. I bought it and I like it very much. There was a move afoot to vote this up in the traditional Scottish music album of the year competition (I think it is called the Alba awards). There a page on Facebook for it called R.I.P Lionel McClelland Community. The voting is now closed, and I'm not sure when the winner will be decided.

In the interests of historical accuracy can I point out that we never had Squires in Scotland. [chorus of song] The equivelent to the English Squire was Laird and even Dukes when they were on their own lands were referred to as The Laird. Sorry to be so pendantic but as this is a worldwide forum it is as well to keep the record straight. Sir Walter Scott has a lot to answer for as he introduced English terms which were not used here before his time, a good example being "Hamlet" in place of "Clachan". Sir Walter was brought up in the only part of Scotland where gaelic was never in use if we can judge from the scarcity of gaelic place names in the extreme South East of the country.